


No Where To Run

by Mo-hot-ve (LocalAngelTracker)



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Dark Humor, Gen, Ghosts, Horror, Mind Games, minor gore, shared brain, soul searching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26944003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LocalAngelTracker/pseuds/Mo-hot-ve
Summary: When Nick Valentine agrees to host Kellogg’s brain for information, he never expects it to go further than the time he spent in the chair. As time goes on Nick slowly begins to realize things may not have gone the way they seemed. Now he’s got an unwanted guest and the tension of knowing that he can’t tell a soul.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	No Where To Run

It was a stormy night, rain pounding down hard on the leaky tin roof of the shack Nick Valentine called an office in Diamond City. Like the opening of one of those cheesy radio plays he used to listen to a life time ago, they had come in to tell their tale of woe properly. If only Nick knew that night what he was really being dragged into. But, that vault dweller had saved his skin in that subway station and....well...Nick always did have a soft spot for helping kids. 

Now he’s bracing himself for a fight outside the control room in Fort Hagen, a bigger fight than clearing the halls to get to this point. The fact that Kellogg was just letting them in smelled like a trap all over. And yet, the sole survivor of Kellogg’s massacre was ready to plunge in like nothing had happened. Must be parental instincts that keeps them going without needing a breather or a chance to assess the damage. But they always seemed lucky enough to escape it anyway so what was the point? “Are you sure about this” Nick calls to the back of their head. One old synth and one angry parent may not be enough to stop Kellogg and whatever fun surprises he has waiting behind that door. 

The vault dweller just pushes open the door and storms in anyway, Nick following behind with his finger on the trigger of the combat shotgun he had picked up along the way. A revolver didn’t do much against the ballistic weave of synth skin unless you were able to make your shots in just the right place. Maybe he should have gone with snagging up one of the discarded institute rifles instead. Too late really for that thought. While they talk to Kellogg about Shaun, Nick is also counting synths in the room. Old cop training kicking in as he looks for the escape routes and best cover. He’s still listening though and doesn’t miss the “he’s a bit older than you remember” that confirms that the dweller’s kid had been under Nick’s nose for a long while now. It was a jab at him as much as the parent now cradling their own gun a little bit more tightly. 

“We both know how this has to end.” Kellogg says, a hint of a smile on his face like he had been wondering what took them so long to finally kill him. “So.....”and that’s smile widens just a touch. There’s something dangerous in his eyes, the look of someone who has nothing else to loose.” You ready?” He asks and Nick isn’t sure which of them he’s actually asking. 

Nick doesn’t get much time to ponder it, to think about all the things Kellogg has said in those few moments and the possible meanings behind them all. There’s the distinct hum of a stealth boy being turned on and then all hell breaks loose in that room. He ends up behind an old turned over server, picking off synths in various states of disrepair while the dweller plunged through the chaos to find Kellogg. There’s the sickening crunch of a skull being shattered that says they found the man with ease. Some part of Nick regrets that they hadn’t kept Kellogg alive to try and get more answers about the institute. Hell, questioning Kellogg might clear out a chunk of the backlog of cold cases Nick has sitting back at the office. But....Nick can’t say that Kellogg didn’t have it coming either. Kids were crossing a line that even the institute should have respected. 

Together, he and the dweller clear out what remains of the synths, making sure there’s nothing left to report back to the institute what had happened here. All of that and Nick isn’t really sure that the institute doesn’t already know, that this wasn’t some bigger chess move in a game nobody had figured out yet. “We should look through what they’ve left behind” he suggests. “They’ll have extra ammo on them and maybe some more helpful information.” He takes the desks, the dweller takes Kellogg’s terminal and the body. It’s not long before he hears a noise of surprise that tells him they hit the jackpot. He shouldn’t be surprised when he comes over that it’s the dweller digging through Kellogg’s grey matter.

“There are parts in here” they explain, as if it made up for whatever it was they were doing. They yank said parts out, each comes out with an awful squelch and sound of ripping...something. Best not to think about what’s being torn or how comfortable this nice respectable prewar citizen was with playing in dead people’s guts. “Got any water? We could clean them off” they say getting up with their treasures cradled in their hands. 

“There’s a med kit on the desk that might have something” nick offers, unable to take his eyes off the strange mechanical parts. They looked so familiar and yet so alien. Just like every other bit of the institute that appeared in the commonwealth. The dweller roots around in the box, pulling out alcohol and bandages to use as rags. They set to work cleaning off the parts with practiced hand that said they had really picked up on the concept of scavenging since they crawled out into the sun 6 months ago. In some ways it put Nick at ease that they’d be able to take care of themself after this was all over. 

When the first piece is cleaned it’s handed over to Nick to inspect, turning it over in his hands as he tries to figure out the purpose of the part. It seemed important though, in ways he can’t really explain. The other two aren’t as impressive, similar to other pieces he had seen in his time in the world. “Pain inhibitor and a limb enhancer. Most synths come with some version of these in them. One to make them fight without stopping, one to make them move more like a human.” He hands the parts back to the dweller to put in their pack “maybe I should keep the pain one for myself and see if someone would be kind enough to install it” he attempts as a joke. The dweller doesn’t laugh.

“And this one?” They hold up the first piece again and Nick can only shake his head. 

“I don’t know.....but I might know someone who does. It’s a bit of a stretch but we don’t have a lot to go on right now. If you’re willing to keep me on as a partner we can go to GoodNeighbor and find out” 

The dweller nods. “To Goodnieghbor then. Hopefully we’ll find at least something. Let’s head out” And they turn, taking the lead like always for Nick to follow behind. He’s not sure where this will take them, to the actual institute or just wherever Kellogg has stashed that poor 10 year old. They have to hope though, cause right now it’s all they’ve got.


End file.
